Plans to demolish the Lord Nelson in Morton and replace with a Lincolnshire Co-operative store approved

Plans to demolish a pub in Morton near Bourne and build a Lincolnshire Co-operative store in its place have finally been approved.

The plans for the Lord Nelson pub on the A15 crossroads at Morton originally went before South Kesteven District Council’s development control committee in May 2014, and were refused permission contrary to the recommendation of planning officers.

After applicants Aegis Architects lost their appeal against this decision which had been lodged with the planning inspectorate, they returned with an amended design and traffic plan in response to the primary concern over highway and pedestrian safety.

This was deferred when it went before the district council’s planning committee again in October last year, as the councillors called for an independent traffic survey to be provided.

Taking on board the points made in this independent consultation, on Tuesday the applicants returned with a plan to direct all traffic into the site from an access point off Hanthorpe Road, with delivery lorries being instructed that they must only turn left to leave the site on to the A15, Bourne Road.

The public will be able to exit by turning both left or right, and a pedestrian crossing over the A15 to the south of the store must also be built.

Coun Michael King (Con), who had previously expressed concerns against the plans, said: “It is a whole lot better. The previous application was refused on highways safety and pedestrian safety, and this address them both.

“It is not ideal - there are still questions over the direction of traffic. But I propose we approve this application.”

However not all of the councillors were convinced that this was a solution.

Coun Rosemary Woolley (Con) added: “I have great concerns still. I can imagine the lorries will have to go out on to the other side of the road, and there has already been quite a few accidents there.”

The proposal to approve the application, subject to conditions, was won by eight votes to five.

Lincolnshire Co-op’s Store development manager Matthew Wilkinson said: “We believe that a food store will give people in the village further shopping choice and will also be a way of bringing that site back into sustainable economic use.”

Lincolnshire Co-operative had previously put in a planning application to turn the former King’s Head pub, on the opposite side of the A15, into a store.

The former King’s Head was destroyed in a suspected arson attack in 2007 and the firm had demolished the site in preparation, before changing its plans.